Rubber basin



Jan. 19, 1932. T, A, PATTERSN 1,842,192

RUBBER BAS IN Filed oct. so, 195o Patented-Jan. `19, 1932 y y l OFFICE i THMAS A. PTTON, 01E LEWOOD, @m0

RUBBER BASIN' Application iiledl October 30, 1930. Serial' No. Mo.

rlhis invention relates to rubber basins, being an improvement in containers designed to be employed as foot baths at the entrance to bathing pools, gymnasiums, and the like, .'5 and intended primarily to hold chemical solutions for the treatment and prevention of skin diseases such as athletes foot. The basin is made of a size to t conveniently Within an ordinary door opening or narrow l passage and of a length such that it would be dicult for any one to pass through the door way or along the passage without stepping into the basin. It is constructed of exible material which will lie upon a door W and make good frictional contact throughout its extent despite any unevenness in the floor surface. It is also made heavy in order that itmaynotbe easily shifted about accidentally. The surfaces of the basin with which the feet of the users come in contact are roughened so as to provide friction tread or anti-skidsurfaces, and the material employed is to some extent yielding, so that when a user strikes his foot against it the painful effects may be minimized. The material which lends itself best to these various purposes, so far as I have discovered up to the present time, is a relatively soft grade of rubber.

The primary object of the invention therefore is the provision of a container having the characteristics and functions mentioned above. f v

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with a description of that purposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a basin constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the same, and

Fig.y 3 is a fragmental plan view of one corner of the basin.

In thel drawings I have' shown at 10 the platform portion of the basin, the upper surface of which is roughened in some suitable manner, as by means of corrugations 11 which cover substantially the entire area. Surrounding thisplatform portion is a side wall embodiment of the invention which, for thev sarily gone somewhat into detail in order to portion 12, the inner surface of which is preferably vertical. This side Wall or basin rim is made heavy so as to insure its holding its shape and retaining the solutions placedtherein, and so as to add materially to the total Weight of the basin for the purpose of preventing the latter from being slid about upon the floor when in use. To this end theY width of the side wall may be approximately the same as its height. While in some aspects of the invention the side wall might be formed of rectangular or approximately rectangular cross section, I prefer to form it with a cross section approximately that of a right angled triangle in order thatthe outer surface may slope inwardly toward the top and therefore afford as little likelihood as possible of being struck by the foot of a person walking toward the basin. For the same reason and also for the purpose of making it possible for a person to place the forward portion of one foot upon the rim ofthe basin while stepping in with the other foot, I prefer to make the surface 13 of the rim, corresponding to the hypotenuse of the triangle, somewhat concave, as indicated in the drawings. This surface 13 is also roughened, as by means of corrugations, thereby affording a non-skid tread.

Along the inner surface ofthe Wall 12 I may form a bead 14 for the assistance of the 80 attendant in determining the proper level of solution in the basin.

In order to facilitate emptying the basin,- I may provide a drain passage l5 through the Wall 12 near the bottom thereof, which pas- 8" sage may be closed normally by a plug 16 inserted thereinto fromthe inner or outer end, as may be preferred. As shown herein the outer end of the passage is' flared somewhat so as to make the plug more readily accessible.

The upper and outer surfaces of the basin should be formed of rubber, and the side wall or rim portion at least should have its exterior portion formed of a relatively soft grade of 9,. rubber Whichwill yield to a considerable exy" tent when struck by a users foot. In practice I prefer to moldthe entire basin as a single unit of such relatively soft rubber.

' In the foregoing description I have neces- 100 explain fully the particular embodiment of the invention herein illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that such detail disclosures are not to be construed as 'amounting to limitations, except as they may be included in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A soft rubber basin for the treatment or prevention of foot diseases, comprising a bottom member with a roughened tread surface and a surrounding side wall of a cross sectional shape corresponding substantially to a right angle triangle with an inner Vertical and a lower horizont-al side, the outer surface corresponding to the hypotenuse of the triangle, whereby the center of gravity of the side wall portion is brought low and the upper edge of the side wall is rendered thin and pliable.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

THOMAS A. PATTERSON. 

